Set Me Free
by Azalyn Midnight
Summary: Ryou wants to be free from his yami more than anything else, but does his yami secretly care about him? Rated mainly for suicide. Yami Bakura/Ryou pairing. *Complete*
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any Yu-Gi-Oh, k? Thoughts will be in italics, like this Thoughts  
  
The knife glinted in the dim light of Ryou's bedroom. He looked at the knife's wide blade. His own brown eyes stared back at him. Almost instantly he looked away. He hated his reflection, hated it. He hated his own pathetic self. You always said I was a pathetic mortal. And you were right. He looked at the shards of glass littering the floor. He had shattered the mirror. He didn't want to see his own pathetic death in it's cold surface. You always thought I was sweet and innocent. You were wrong. The boy walked to the window and looked out at the grey sky and fenced in yard. Would this really be his last view of this world? Ryou laughed in spite of himself. The one thing he had always wanted had always seemed so far away. And now it was so close. Then Ryou remembered. His friends. His family. Do I really want to do this? But none of that mattered anymore. He knew that he was a danger to his friends. His yami could take control anytime... He couldn't put his friends in that kind of danger. A thin red line appeared as Ryou sliced his arm with the knife. No going back now. The warm blood flowed freely now, dripping onto the carpet, staining it with red spots. Ryou felt a wave of fear. Silver tears mixed with the blood. Why am I crying? Soon I will have the one thing I've always wanted, and I'm crying.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------Elsewhere------ -------------------------------------------------- Yami Bakura sensed a sudden pain through his and Ryou's mental link. He sneered at his pathetic hikari. Pathetic. I suppose I should go see what's wrong anyway. Bakura walked back to Ryou's house. He opened the door the door. "Hikari? Hikari?" No answer. That was odd.  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------Back in Ryou's bedroom-------------------------------------- The blood flowed freely now. A small pool of blood had formed where the boy lay, too weak to sit up. The terrified boy convulsed and shook. But soon he would have what he always wanted. The door burst open with a bang. "What is it this time, you pathetic..." Yami Bakura stopped mid sentence. He took in the scene. The shattered mirror, the blood stained carpet, the glinting knife... "Hikari!" shouted Yami Bakura. "What are you doing?!" Ryou looked up at him with solemn eyes. "I'm getting what I've always wanted," said Ryou softly, putting yet another slit in his already mutilated wrist. "Freedom." Ryou looked up at his yami. It must have been due to the dim light or the loss of blood, but he could have sworn he saw tears in his yami's eyes. But it must have been an illusion. "Hikari, please..." said Yami Bakura, almost pleadingly, it seemed. "And now," said Ryou, raising the knife, "I set myself free." 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer:I don't own any Yu-Gi-Oh, got that? None at all. Author's note:Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter one. Review and tell me honestly what you think. Thanks.  
  
"Hikari!" Yami Bakura shouted. Yami Bakura raced to the phone and frantically dialed 911. He quickly explained to the operator what had happened, feeling slight relief when the operator assured him that an ambulance was on the way. Yami Bakura looked at his beautiful hikari, laying unconcious on the floor, a large pool of blood spreading around him. Oh god, what have I done? Bakura lifted up Ryou's limp hand and held it. "Hikari, please, please wake up..." whispered Yami Bakura. The surface of the dark pool rippled as tear after tear fell from Yami Bakura's cheek. "I'm sorry..." -----------------------------------------------------------Late that night-- ---------------------------------------------------- Ryou was laying in the hospital, still unconcious, his yami by his side. "Please, Ryou, wake up..." Yami Bakura willed his hikari to wake with everything he had. But the boy didn't wake. Please... Slowly, Ryou's soft brown eyes slid open. "Yami?" Yami Bakura grinned. "Hey, Ryou." "Y-Yami, I'm sorry, it's just that..." Ryou's wide eyes met his yami's narrow ones. "Don't worry about it, Ryou," said Yami Bakura. "And," he added, his voice softening slightly, "it was my fault anyway. Things will be different from now on, I promise." Ryou looked surprised, causing Yami Bakura to feel a sharp stab of guilt at how badly he had treated the one he loved. "I love you, hikari." Ryou's eyes grew wide. "Do you really mean that?" Yami and hikari hugged each other tight. "Of course I do." 


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Sorry it took me so long to update this, I'm not dead, I'm just really busy. Oh, by the way, this takes place about a week and a half after the second chapter.  
  
Chapter 3 Yami Bakura stood in front of the mirror, his pocket knife in hand. He pulled up the sleeve of his shirt, revealing the damage he had already done to his wrists. Tears shimmering in his eyes, he added another slit to the fast growing collection. This was a nasty little habit that he had developed when Ryou had been in the hospital. His intent wasn't really to hurt himself, it was just to... Well, thinking about it, he didn't really know what made him slowly mutilate his own wrists. It just made him feel better somehow. Like he was getting what he deserved for hurting his precious little hikari. He hadn't really had a chance to talk to Ryou yet, but he knew that he probably had a lot to do with Ryou's little suicide attempt. Bakura knew that he was acting crazy, but he didn't care. Five days of not knowing whether or not his hikari would live or die, five days of pure hell, were enough to drive anyone crazy! Bakura sighed. He knew that he would have to talk to Ryou eventually, but he didn't know how he would stand it. He loved his little hikari so much... And how could Ryou possibly love him back? After the way he had treated Ryou... The way he had abused him, manipulated him, and nothing short of ruined his life, made him sick.  
  
He must think I hate him.  
  
This was another thing that he didn't know why he had done. He had been so bent on getting all seven Millenium Items... That just didn't seem important anymore. Bakura began to carve at the slits with the knife, causing them to bleed. He wanted more than anything for his hikari to love him... But he also wanted more than anything for Ryou to be happy.  
  
He'll never be happy with me.  
  
There was a click as the doorknob of the front door turned. Ryou was home from school. Crap. Bakura tried to hide his bleeding wrists. He shoved the bloody knife into his back pocket, trying hard to think of what he could say to Ryou. "Yami?" came Ryou's quiet voice. The doorknob turned. Bakura quickly brushed the tears from his eyes. He was a spirit of darkness, and he would NOT be caught crying...  
  
Please review. More to come soon. 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: The usual. I own nothing. Author's note: Sorry this chapter took so long. School.eeeeeeevil.Computers.eeeeevil. Anyway, I don't think this is the last chapter. I will probably write one more.  
  
The doorknob turned slowly and Ryou walked into the house. "Hi, Yami," said Ryou, somewhat puzzled. It was really unusual for Yami Bakura to be home at this time. He was usually off somewhere or another. "Oh, um, uh, hi, Ryou," Bakura mumbled, walking into the other room almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He really hoped that Ryou wouldn't notice how strange he was acting. As he hurried away, he barely noticed a dull clink of metal as the bloody knife fell from his pocket to the floor. Bakura swore under his breath, then spun around and reached for the knife. But the knife wasn't there. He looked up into the sad eyes of his hikari, and then to the gleaming knife in his hikari's hand. Bakura stared at the floor, trying to think of an excuse, any excuse. Ryou didn't say anything. He gently pushed back the sleeve of his yami's shirt, revealing the marks from the blade. Ryou didn't look at all surprised. Suddenly Bakura realized something.  
  
He's known all along.  
  
Bakura's eyes met his hikari's and searched them. He saw the sympathy in them, but also something else that he couldn't quite identify. There was definitely something else in those eyes. Bakura thought for a fleeting second that it might be love, but then realized that it was probably just his own wishful thinking. Ryou interrupted his yami's thoughts as he began to clean the blood off of Bakura's arm. Ryou touched his yami's hand in a way that could have almost been accidental. "Yami, I want you to promise me never to do that again," said Ryou quietly. Bakura found himself at a loss for words. "Yami, please." Yami Bakura looked at Ryou and smiled. No words needed to be spoken. Bakura pulled his little hikari into his arms. He felt Ryou tense at first, but then relax and move in closer. And Bakura knew that it was not just his own wishful thinking. 


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: sorry this chapter took me so long to write. I've had no time at all. This is my last chapter. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. This takes place maybe a week after Ch 4. Sorry that this chapter is so short. I haven't got much to say here, but I had to end it somehow. Disclaimer: What do you think?  
Ryou sat in his bedroom, looking out the window. It was a beautiful spring day, and sunlight poured into the room. The boy sat, staring out the window at the quiet street below, deep in thought.  
  
He understood what he had put his yami through when he had hacked at his own skin with the knife not too long ago. But he also had gone through a lot when he realized that his yami had done the same thing. Ryou had never realized before how much his yami had cared about him, but now that he knew, he wondered how he had missed it.  
  
A few days ago, Bakura began to apologize for the way he had treated his hikari for all this time, but Ryou had realized that he didn't need to hear it. He knew that things would be better from now on. He would forgive his yami and his yami would forgive him. That was when Ryou realized, a smile spreading across his face that he had been set free. 


End file.
